With Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver signaling that he's out one way or another — perhaps by formal expulsion — Mr. Lopez on Friday announced he will step down at this session's end in June. That's not soon enough, nor should he continue his run for the New York City Council. Any politician who supports him should be shunned.

But as Mr. Lopez slinks off, the spotlight remains on Mr. Silver. Political adversaries say he should go, too. After carefully weighing the JCOPE report, we disagree. But it falls to him now to show that the lessons apparent in the report have been learned.

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To recap: When two women who worked for Mr. Lopez complained of his persistent harassment to the Assembly Democratic majority office in 2011 and 2012, the matter should have gone to Assembly Ethics and Guidance Committee for immediate investigation. Instead, lawyers began settlement talks, which resulted in payments of $103,080 in taxpayer funds and $32,000 from Mr. Lopez personally. It seems clear that Mr. Silver and those around him were either indifferent to the seriousness of Mr. Lopez's acts or reluctant to probe a powerful colleague.

The settlement's confidentiality clause was tightly written by Mr. Silver's lawyers; even acknowledging that a settlement existed would have been a breach. As the report showed, this was less to protect the victims than the politicians from embarrassing headlines.

Had this not been addressed, we would be calling for Mr. Silver to step down. But when new complaints arose last year, it seems everyone got it. The case went right to the ethics committee; Mr. Silver eventually stripped Mr. Lopez of his committee chairmanship and seniority, and had him undergo supplemental sexual harassment training.

Mr. Silver has pledged to improve the complaint process, as he must. The JCOPE report reveals a process that can intimidate victims and confuse even lawyers.

Still, is the handling of the Lopez case under Mr. Silver's leadership reason to remove him as speaker? No. In the clearly flawed culture of the Legislature, the steps he took against Mr. Lopez were severe. Removing an official who was elected by citizens is a grave step in a democracy. It took a conviction in a domestic violence case for the Senate to oust Hiram Monserrate.

And the fact remains that Mr. Silver has had an honorable tenure as speaker, standing sometimes as a lightning rod for progressive causes, including women's rights. His errors here were in matters of judgment and degree, not ill intent. And he has publicly admitted his mistakes, demonstrating a humility we see too rarely in politics.